CN115708394A

CN115708394A - Electronic device with high frequency reflection antenna array

Info

Publication number: CN115708394A
Application number: CN202210718748.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: B·R·贡泽尔曼; Z·博斯
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2021-08-20
Filing date: 2022-06-23
Publication date: 2023-02-21
Also published as: US20240154697A1; KR20230028138A; EP4262019A2; US11923904B2; EP4138220A1; EP4262019A3; US20230058998A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to electronic devices with high frequency reflective antenna arrays. An electronic device may include a photonic-based phased antenna array that transmits wireless signals at frequencies greater than 100 GHz. In a transmit mode, the array may transmit signals using the first optical signal and the second optical signal. In receive mode, the array may receive signals using the optical signals. In the passive mode, the array may reflect an incident wireless signal as a reflected signal. The photodiodes in the array may be controlled to exhibit an output impedance that is mismatched with respect to the input impedance of the radiating elements in the array. Different mismatches may be used across the array or as a function of time to impart different phase and/or frequency shifts to the reflected signals. These phase shifts may be used to encode information into the reflected signals and/or to form signal beams of the reflected signals.

Description

Electronic device with high frequency reflection antenna array

This application claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/827,290, filed on 27/5/2022, and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/235,611, filed on 20/8/2021, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly to electronic devices having wireless circuitry.

Background

The electronic device may be provided with wireless capabilities. An electronic device with wireless capability has wireless circuitry including one or more antennas. The radio circuit is used to perform communication using a radio frequency signal transmitted by the antenna.

As software applications on electronic devices become more data intensive over time, the need for electronic devices that support wireless communication at higher data rates has increased. However, the maximum data rate supported by the electronic device is limited by the frequency of the radio frequency signal. Furthermore, it may be difficult to implement a wireless circuit for handling high data rates in a resource-efficient and space-efficient manner, particularly when the antenna is not always used for actively transmitting or receiving signals.

Disclosure of Invention

Electronic devices may include wireless circuitry that is controlled by one or more processors. The wireless circuitry may include transceiver circuitry, one or more antennas, and one or more optical signal paths coupling the transceiver circuitry to each of the antennas. To support extremely high data rates, these antennas may transmit wireless signals at frequencies greater than or equal to about 100 GHz. Each antenna may transmit and receive these wireless signals using a time division duplex scheme, if desired.

The antenna may include an antenna radiating element coupled to a programmable photodiode, such as a single row carrier photodiode (UTCPD). The optical signal path may illuminate the UTCPD with a first optical Local Oscillator (LO) signal and a second optical LO signal offset in wavelength relative to the first optical LO signal. An optical phase shift may be applied to the first optical LO signal, if desired. This may allow for the formation of signal beams in implementations where the antennas are formed in a phased antenna array.

The phased antenna array may be capable of operating in one or more of a transmit mode, a receive mode, and a passive reflector mode. In a transmit mode, the phased antenna array transmits wireless signals using the first optical LO signal and the second optical LO signal. In a receive mode, the phased antenna array receives wireless signals using the first optical LO signal and the second optical LO signal. In the passive reflector mode, the phased antenna array does not transmit or receive wireless signals, and the first and second optical LO signals do not illuminate the UTC PDs in the array. The phased antenna array may receive incident wireless signals and may reflect these incident wireless signals as reflected signals. The UTC PDs may be controlled to exhibit a selected output impedance that is mismatched by one or more amounts relative to the input impedance of the antenna radiating elements. Different mismatches may be used across the array and/or as a function of time to impart different phase and/or frequency shifts to the reflected signals. These phase shifts may be used to encode information into the reflected signals using a space-time encoding scheme and/or to form signal beams of the reflected signals that are oriented in a selected direction.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides an electronic device. The electronic device may include: an antenna radiating element having an input impedance. The electronic device may include: a photodiode coupled to the antenna radiating element and having an output impedance. The photodiode may be configured to receive a control signal that places the photodiode in a selected one of a first mode in which the input impedance is mismatched relative to the output impedance at a frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz or a second mode in which the input impedance is matched to the output impedance at the frequency. The electronic device may include: an optical signal path configured to illuminate the photodiode when the photodiode is in the second mode using a first optical Local Oscillator (LO) signal and a second optical LO signal offset in wavelength relative to the first optical LO signal. The antenna radiating element may be configured to reflect the wireless signal at the frequency when the photodiode is in the first mode.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of operating an electronic device having an antenna array including antenna radiating elements and photodiodes coupled to the antenna radiating elements. The method can comprise the following steps: with the photodiodes, when the photodiode is illuminated with a first optical Local Oscillator (LO) signal and a second optical LO signal offset in wavelength relative to the first optical LO signal, a current is generated on an antenna radiating element that emits a first wireless signal at a frequency greater than or equal to 100 GHz. The method can comprise the following steps: with these antenna radiating elements, a second wireless signal at the frequency is reflected when the photodiode is controlled to exhibit one or more output impedances that are mismatched relative to the input impedance of the antenna radiating element at the frequency.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides an electronic device. The electronic device may include: an antenna radiating element having an input impedance. The electronic device may include: a photodiode coupled to the antenna radiating element and configured to exhibit an output impedance mismatched to an input impedance of the antenna radiating element at a frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz using the control signal.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides an electronic device. The electronic device may include a phased antenna array. The electronic device may include: one or more processors configured to place the phased antenna array in a first mode in which the phased antenna array is configured to transmit a first wireless signal, a second mode in which the phased antenna array is configured to receive a second wireless signal, or a third mode in which the phased antenna array is configured to reflect a third wireless signal incident on the phased antenna array.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary electronic device having wireless circuitry with at least one antenna that transmits and receives wireless signals at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 2 is a top view of an exemplary antenna to transmit wireless signals at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz based on an optical Local Oscillator (LO) signal, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 3 is a top view diagram showing how an exemplary antenna of the type shown in fig. 2 may convert received wireless signals at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz to intermediate frequency signals based on an optical LO signal, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 4 is a top view showing how multiple antennas of the type shown in fig. 2 and 3 may be stacked to cover multiple polarizations, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 5 is a top view showing how stacked antennas of the type shown in fig. 4 may be integrated into a phased antenna array for transmitting wireless signals at frequencies greater than about 100GHz within corresponding signal beams.

Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram of an illustrative wireless circuit having an antenna that transmits wireless signals at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz and receives wireless signals at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz for conversion to an intermediate frequency and then to the optical domain, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 7 is a circuit diagram of an exemplary phased antenna array transmitting wireless signals at frequencies greater than about 100GHz within corresponding signal beams, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 8 is a top view diagram showing how an exemplary antenna of the type shown in fig. 2 and 3 may be controlled to passively reflect wireless signals at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz while imparting desired phase and/or frequency changes to the reflected wireless signals, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary single row carrier photodiode (UTC PD) in an antenna that may be configured to transmit, receive, and/or passively reflect wireless signals at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 10 is an equivalent circuit diagram of an exemplary UTC PD in an antenna that may be configured to transmit, receive, and/or passively reflect wireless signals at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing how an illustrative antenna on an electronic device may passively reflect wireless signals transmitted in different directions by external communication equipment, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 12 is a state diagram illustrating an exemplary mode of operation for a phased antenna array that may be configured to transmit, receive, and/or passively reflect wireless signals at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing how one or more antennas of one or more illustrative phased antenna arrays may be distributed across different locations on an electronic device, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 14 is a top view of an exemplary phased antenna array with different subsets of antennas for transmitting, receiving, and/or passively reflecting wireless signals, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 15 is a side view showing how an exemplary THz lens may overlap a phased antenna array for focusing electromagnetic energy, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 16 is a flow diagram of exemplary operations that may be performed by an exemplary electronic device when transmitting, receiving, and/or passively reflecting wireless signals using a phased antenna array, according to some implementations.

Fig. 17 is a circuit schematic of an exemplary phased antenna array that may be configured to passively reflect radio frequency signals at frequencies less than 100GHz in accordance with some embodiments.

Detailed Description

The electronic device 10 of fig. 1 (sometimes referred to herein as an electro-optical device 10) may be: a computing device, such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, computer monitor containing an embedded computer, tablet computer, cellular telephone, media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device; smaller devices such as wrist watch devices, hanging devices, headset or earpiece devices, devices embedded in glasses, goggles; or other equipment worn on the head of the user; or other wearable or miniature devices, televisions, computer displays that do not contain an embedded computer, gaming devices, navigation devices, embedded systems (such as systems in which electronic equipment with a display is installed in a kiosk or automobile), voice-controlled speakers connected to the wireless internet, home entertainment devices, remote control devices, game controllers, peripheral user input devices, wireless base stations or access points, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices; or other electronic equipment. -

As shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 1, device 10 may include components located on or within an electronic device housing, such as housing 12. The housing 12 (which may sometimes be referred to as a shell) may be formed from plastic, glass, ceramic, fiber composite, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, metal alloys, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of these materials. In some cases, part or all of housing 12 may be formed from a dielectric or other low conductivity material (e.g., glass, ceramic, plastic, sapphire, etc.). In other cases, at least some of the housing 12 or the structures making up the housing 12 may be formed from metal elements.

The apparatus 10 may include a control circuit 14. Control circuitry 14 may include storage devices, such as storage circuitry 16. The storage circuitry 16 may include hard disk drive storage, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically programmable read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static random access memory or dynamic random access memory), and so forth. Storage circuitry 16 may include storage devices and/or removable storage media integrated within device 10.

Control circuitry 14 may include processing circuitry, such as processing circuitry 18. Processing circuitry 18 may be used to control the operation of device 10. Processing circuitry 18 may include one or more processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, host processors, baseband processor integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits, central Processing Units (CPUs), graphics Processing Units (GPUs), and so forth. Control circuitry 14 may be configured to perform operations in device 10 using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware, and/or software. Software code for performing operations in the device 10 may be stored on the storage circuitry 16 (e.g., the storage circuitry 16 may comprise a non-transitory (tangible) computer readable storage medium storing the software code). The software code may sometimes be referred to as program instructions, software, data, instructions, or code. The software code stored on the storage circuit 16 may be executed by the processing circuit 18.

Control circuitry 14 may be used to run software on device 10 such as a satellite navigation application, an internet browsing application, a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone call application, an email application, a media playback application, operating system functions, and so forth. To support interaction with external equipment, the control circuit 14 may be used to implement a communication protocol. Communication protocols that may be implemented using control circuit 14 include Internet protocols, wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocols-sometimes referred to as IEEE 802.11 protocols

) Such as

Protocols for other short-range wireless communication links, such as protocols for other Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs), IEEE 802.11ad protocols (e.g., ultra-wideband protocols), cellular telephony protocols (e.g., 3G protocols, 4G (LTE) protocols, 3GPP fifth generation (5G) new air interface (NR) protocols, sixth generation (6G) protocols, sub-THz protocols, etc.), antenna diversity protocols, satellite navigation system protocols (e.g., global Positioning System (GPS) protocols, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) protocols, etc.), antenna-based spatial ranging protocols, optical communication protocols, or any other desired communication protocol. Each communication protocol may be associated with a corresponding Radio Access Technology (RAT) that specifies the physical connection method used to implement the protocol.

The device 10 may include input-output circuitry 20. The input-output circuitry 20 may include an input-output device 22. Input-output devices 22 may be used to allow data to be supplied to device 10 and to allow data to be provided from device 10 to external devices. The input-output devices 22 may include user interface devices, data port devices, and other input-output components. For example, input-output devices 22 may include touch sensors, displays (e.g., touch-sensitive displays and/or force-sensitive displays), lighting components such as displays without touch sensor capability, buttons (mechanical, capacitive, optical, etc.), scroll wheels, touch pads, keypads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, buttons, speakers, status indicators, audio jacks and other audio port components, digital data port devices, motion sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes, and/or compasses to detect motion), capacitive sensors, proximity sensors, magnetic sensors, force sensors (e.g., force sensors coupled to a display to detect pressure applied to a display), temperature sensors, and so forth. In some configurations, keyboards, headphones, displays, pointing devices such as trackpads, mice, and joysticks, and other input-output devices can be coupled to device 10 using wired or wireless connections (e.g., some of the input-output devices 22 can be peripheral devices coupled to a main processing unit or other portion of device 10 via wired or wireless links).

The input-output circuitry 20 may include radio circuitry 24 to support wireless communications. The radio circuitry 24 (sometimes referred to herein as wireless communication circuitry 24) may include one or more antennas 30.

The radio circuit 24 may also include a transceiver circuit 26. The transceiver circuitry 26 may include transmitter circuitry, receiver circuitry, modulator circuitry, demodulator circuitry (e.g., one or more modems), radio frequency circuitry, one or more radios, intermediate frequency circuitry, optical transmitter circuitry, optical receiver circuitry, optical light sources, other optical components, baseband circuitry (e.g., one or more baseband processors), amplifier circuitry, clock circuitry such as one or more local oscillators and/or phase-locked loops, memory, one or more registers, filter circuitry, switching circuitry, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuitry, digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, radio frequency transmit lines, optical fibers, and/or any other circuitry for transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using the antenna 30. The components of the transceiver circuit 26 may be implemented on one integrated circuit, chip, system on a chip (SOC), die, printed circuit board, substrate, or package, or the components of the transceiver circuit 26 may be distributed across two or more integrated circuits, chips, SOCs, printed circuit boards, substrates, and/or packages.

The example of fig. 1 is merely illustrative. Although the control circuitry 14 is shown separate from the wireless circuitry 24 in the example of fig. 1 for clarity, the wireless circuitry 24 may include processing circuitry (e.g., one or more processors) that forms a portion of the processing circuitry 18 and/or memory circuitry that forms a portion of the memory circuitry 16 of the control circuitry 14 (e.g., portions of the control circuitry 14 may be implemented on the wireless circuitry 24). As one example, the control circuitry 14 may include baseband circuitry (e.g., one or more baseband processors), digital control circuitry, analog control circuitry, and/or other control circuitry that forms part of the wireless circuitry 24. The baseband circuitry may, for example, access a communication protocol stack on control circuitry 14 (e.g., storage circuitry 20) to: performing user plane functions at a PHY layer, a MAC layer, an RLC layer, a PDCP layer, an SDAP layer, and/or a PDU layer; and/or perform control plane functions at a PHY layer, a MAC layer, an RLC layer, a PDCP layer, an RRC layer, and/or a non-access layer.

The transceiver circuit 26 may be coupled to each antenna 30 in the radio circuit 24 by a respective signal path 28. Each signal path 28 may include one or more radio frequency transmission lines, waveguides, optical fibers, and/or any other desired lines/paths for conveying wireless signals between the transceiver circuitry 26 and the antenna 30. The antenna 30 may be formed using any desired antenna structure for communicating wireless signals. For example, antenna 30 may include antennas having resonating elements formed from dipole antenna structures, planar dipole antenna structures (e.g., bowtie antenna structures), slot antenna structures, loop antenna structures, patch antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures, planar inverted-F antenna structures, helical antenna structures, monopole antennas, dipoles, hybrids of these designs, and so forth. The filter circuits, switching circuits, impedance matching circuits, and/or other antenna tuning components may be adjusted to adjust the frequency response and radio performance of the antenna 30 over time.

If desired, two or more of the antennas 30 may be integrated into a phased antenna array (sometimes referred to herein as a phased array antenna) in which each of the antennas transmits wireless signals having respective phases and magnitudes that are adjusted over time so that the wireless signals constructively and destructively interfere to produce (form) a signal beam in a given directional direction. As used herein, the term "communicating wireless signals" means the transmission and/or reception of wireless signals (e.g., for performing one-way and/or two-way wireless communication with external wireless communication equipment). The antenna 30 may transmit wireless signals by radiating signals into free space (or through intervening device structures such as dielectric overlays). Additionally or alternatively, the antenna 30 may receive wireless signals from free space (e.g., through intervening device structures such as dielectric overlays). The transmission and reception of wireless signals by the antenna 30 each involves excitation or resonance of antenna current on an antenna resonating (radiating) element in the antenna by wireless signals within the operating frequency band of the antenna.

Transceiver circuitry 26 may transmit and/or receive wireless signals using antenna 30 that communicate wireless communication data between device 10 and external wireless communication equipment (e.g., one or more other devices, such as device 10, a wireless access point or base station, etc.). Wireless communication data may be communicated bi-directionally or uni-directionally. The wireless communication data may include, for example, data encoded into corresponding data packets, such as wireless data associated with telephone calls, streaming media content, internet browsing, wireless data associated with software applications running on device 10, email messages, and so forth.

Additionally or alternatively, the wireless circuitry 24 may perform wireless sensing operations using the antenna 30. The sensing operation may allow device 10 to detect (e.g., sense or identify) the presence, location, orientation, and/or velocity (motion) of an object external to device 10. The control circuit 14 may use the detected presence, position, orientation, and/or velocity of the external object to perform any desired device operation. As an example, the control circuitry 14 may identify corresponding user inputs for one or more software applications running on the device 10, such as gesture inputs performed by a user's hand or other body part or by an external stylus, game controller, head-mounted device, or other peripheral device or accessory, using the detected presence, location, orientation, and/or velocity of an external object, to determine when one or more antennas 30 need to be disabled or provided with a reduced maximum transmit power level (e.g., to satisfy regulatory limits on radio frequency exposure), to determine how to direct (form) a radio frequency signal beam generated by an antenna 30 for the wireless circuitry 24 (e.g., where the antenna 30 includes a phased array of antennas 30), to map or model the environment surrounding the device 10 (e.g., to generate a software model of the room in which the device 10 is located for use by an augmented reality application, game application, map application, design application, engineering application, or the like), to detect the presence of obstacles in the vicinity of (e.g., surrounding) the device 10 or in the direction of movement of the device 10, or the like.

The radio circuit 24 may transmit and/or receive wireless signals within corresponding frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum (sometimes referred to herein as communication bands or simply "bands"). The frequency bands handled by communication circuitry 26 may include: wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) bands (e.g.,

(IEEE 802.11) or other WLAN communication bands) such as 2.4GHz WLAN band (e.g., 2400MHz to 2480 MHz), 5GHz WLAN band (e.g., 5180MHz to 5825 MHz),

6E band (e.g., 5925MHz-7125 MHz) and/or others

Bands (e.g., 1875MHz-5160 MHz); wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) frequency bandSuch as 2.4GHz

Bands or other WPAN communication bands; cellular telephone frequency bands (e.g., bands of about 600MHz to about 5GHz, 3G bands, 4G LTE bands, 5G new air frequency range 1 (FR 1) band below 10GHz, 5G new air frequency range 2 (FR 2) band between 20GHz and 60GHz, etc.); other centimeter or millimeter wave frequency bands between 10GHz and 100 GHz; a near field communication band (e.g., 13.56 MHz); satellite navigation bands (e.g., the 1565MHz to 1610MHz GPS band, the Global navigation satellite System (GLONASS) band, the Beidou satellite navigation System (BDS) band, etc.); an ultra-wideband (UWB) band operating under the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol and/or other ultra-wideband communication protocols; a communication band belonging to the 3GPP wireless communication standard series; a communication band belonging to the IEEE 802.xx family of standards; and/or any other desired frequency band of interest.

Over time, software applications on electronic devices, such as device 10, have become increasingly data intensive. Thus, wireless circuitry on electronic devices is required to support data transmission at higher and higher data rates. Generally, the data rate supported by the wireless circuitry is proportional to the frequency of the wireless signal transmitted by the wireless circuitry (e.g., higher frequencies may support higher data rates than lower frequencies). Radio circuitry 24 may transmit centimeter and millimeter-wave signals to support relatively high data rates (e.g., because the centimeter and millimeter-wave signals are at relatively high frequencies between about 10GHz and 100 GHz). However, the data rates supported by the centimeter and millimeter-wave signals may still be insufficient to meet all of the data transmission requirements of device 10. To support even higher data rates, such as up to 5Gbps-10Gbps or higher, radio circuitry 24 may transmit radio signals at frequencies greater than 100 GHz.

As shown in fig. 1, the wireless circuitry 24 may transmit wireless signals 32 at frequencies greater than approximately 100GHz and may receive wireless signals 34 at frequencies greater than approximately 100 GHz. The wireless signals 32 and 34 may sometimes be referred to herein as extremely high frequency (THF) signals 32 and 34,

sub-THz signals

32 and 34, or sub-millimeter wave signals 32 and 34. The THF signals 32 and 34 may be at sub-THz frequencies or THz frequencies (e.g., within sub-THz, THF, or sub-millimeter frequency bands such as 6G bands), such as between 100GHz and 1THz, between 100GHz and 10THz, between 100GHz and 2THz, between 200GHz and 1THz, between 300GHz and 2THz, between 300GHz and 10THz, between 100GHz and 800GHz, between 200GHz and 1.5THz, and so forth. The high data rates supported by these frequencies may be utilized by device 10 to perform cellular telephone voice and/or data communications (e.g., while supporting spatial multiplexing to provide additional data bandwidth), to perform spatial ranging operations such as radar operations to detect the presence, location, and/or speed of objects external to device 10, to perform automotive sensing (e.g., with enhanced security), to perform health/body monitoring on a user or another person of device 10, to perform gas or chemical detection, to form a high data rate wireless connection between device 10 and another device or peripheral device (e.g., to form a high data rate between a display driver on device 10 and a display displaying ultra-high resolution video), to form a remote radio head (e.g., a flexible high data rate connection), to form a high data rate-capable THF chip-to-chip connection within device 10 (e.g., where one antenna 30 on a first chip in device 10 transmits THF signal 32 to another antenna 30 on a second chip in device 10) and/or to perform any other desired high data rate operations.

Within an electronic device, such as device 10, space is at a premium. In some cases, the antenna 30 used to transmit the THF signal 32 is different from the antenna 30 used to receive the THF signal 34. However, using different antennas 30 to handle the transmission of the THF signal 32 and the reception of the THF signal 34 may consume excess space and other resources within the apparatus 10, as two antennas 30 and signal paths 28 would be required to handle both transmission and reception. To minimize space and resource consumption within the apparatus 10, the same antenna 30 and signal path 28 may be used to transmit the THF signal 32 and receive the THF signal 34. If desired, multiple antennas 30 in the radio circuit 24 may transmit THF signals 32 and may receive THF signals 34. The antenna may be integrated into a phased antenna array that transmits THF signals 32 and receives THF signals 34 within the corresponding signal beam oriented in the selected beam pointing direction.

Incorporating components into the wireless circuitry 24 that supports wireless communications at these high frequencies can be challenging. If desired, the transceiver circuit 26 and the signal path 28 may include optical components that transmit optical signals to support the transmission of the THF signals 32 and the reception of the THF signals 34 in a space and resource efficient manner. The optical signal may be used to transmit a THF signal 32 at a THF frequency and receive a THF signal 34 at a THF frequency.

Fig. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary antenna 30 that may be used to transmit a THF signal 32 and receive a THF signal 34 using optical signals. The antenna 30 may include one or more antenna radiating (resonating) elements, such as a radiating (resonating) element arm 36. In the example of fig. 2, the antenna 30 is a planar dipole antenna (sometimes referred to as a "bowtie" antenna) having two opposing radiating element arms 36 (e.g., bowtie arms or dipole arms). This is merely exemplary, and in general, antenna 30 may be any type of antenna having any desired antenna radiating element architecture.

As shown in fig. 2, the antenna 30 includes a Photodiode (PD) 42 coupled between the radiating element arms 36. An electronic device such as device 10 that includes antenna 30 with photodiode 42 may also sometimes be referred to as an electro-optical device (e.g., electro-optical device 10). The photodiode 42 may be a programmable photodiode. For example, an example is described herein in which the photodiode 42 is a programmable single row carrier photodiode (UTC PD). Thus, the photodiode 42 may sometimes be referred to herein as a UTC PD 42 or a programmable UTC PD 42. This is merely exemplary, and in general, photodiode 42 may comprise any desired type of adjustable/programmable photodiode or component that converts electromagnetic energy at an optical frequency to a current on radiating element arm 36 at a THF frequency and/or vice versa. Each radiating element arm 36 may, for example, have a first edge at UTC PD 42 and a second edge opposite the first edge that is wider than the first edge (e.g., in implementations where antenna 30 is a bowtie antenna). Other radiating elements may be used if desired.

The UTC PD 42 may have a function of receiving one or more control signals V _Biasing Bias terminal 38. Control signal V _Biasing A bias voltage set at one or more voltage levels and/or other control signals for controlling the operation of the UTC PD 42 may be included, such as an impedance adjustment control signal for adjusting the output impedance of the UTC PD 42. The control circuit 14 (fig. 1) may provide (e.g., apply, supply, assert, etc.) the control signal V at different settings (e.g., values, magnitudes, etc.) _Biasing To dynamically control (e.g., program or adjust) the operation of the UTC PD 42 over time. For example, the control signal V _Biasing Can be used to control whether the antenna 30 transmits a THF signal 32 or receives a THF signal 34. When the control signal V _Biasing Including a bias voltage asserted at a first level or magnitude, the antenna 30 may be configured to transmit the THF signal 32. When the control signal V _Biasing Including the bias voltage asserted at the second level or magnitude, the antenna 30 may be configured to receive the THF signal 34. In the example of fig. 2, the control signal V _Biasing Including a bias voltage asserted at a first level to configure the antenna 30 to transmit the THF signal 32. Control signal V, if required _Biasing May also be adjusted to control the waveform of the THF signal (e.g., as a square function, linear function, etc. that preserves modulation of the incident optical signal), to perform gain control on the signal transmitted by the antenna 30, and/or to adjust the output impedance of the UTC PD 42.

As shown in fig. 2, UTC PD 42 may be optically coupled to optical path 40. The optical path 40 may include one or more optical fibers or waveguides. UTC PD 42 may receive optical signals from transceiver circuitry 26 (fig. 1) over optical path 40. The optical signals may include a first optical Local Oscillator (LO) signal LO1 and a second LO signal LO2. The optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 may be generated by optical sources in the transceiver circuit 26 (fig. 1). The optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 may be at optical wavelengths (e.g., between 400nm and 700 nm), ultraviolet wavelengths (e.g., near-ultraviolet wavelengths or extreme ultraviolet wavelengths), and/or infrared wavelengths (e.g., near-infrared wavelengths, mid-infrared wavelengths, or far-infrared wavelengths). The optical local oscillator signal LO2 may be offset in wavelength from the optical local oscillator signal LO1 by a wavelength offset X. The wavelength offset X may be equal to the wavelength (e.g., between 100GHz and 1THz (1000 GHz), between 100GHz and 2THz, between 300GHz and 800GHz, between 300GHz and 1THz, between 300GHz and 400GHz, etc.) of the THF signal transmitted by the antenna 30.

During signal transmission, wireless data (e.g., wireless data packets, symbols, frames, etc.) may be modulated onto optical local oscillator signal LO2 to generate a modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2'. The optical local oscillator signal LO1 may be provided with an optical phase shift S, if desired. The optical path 40 may illuminate the UTC PD 42 with an optical local oscillator signal LO1 (plus the optical phase shift S when applied) and a modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2'. If desired, a lens or other optical component may be interposed between the optical path 40 and the UTC PD 42 to help focus the optical local oscillator signal onto the UTC PD 42.

The UTC PD 42 may convert the optical local oscillator signal LO1 and the modulated local oscillator signal LO2' (e.g., the beat between the two optical local oscillator signals) into an antenna current flowing along the periphery of the radiating element arm 36. The frequency of the antenna current is equal to the frequency difference between the local oscillator signal LO1 and the modulated local oscillator signal LO2'. The antenna current can radiate (transmit) the THF signal 32 into free space. Control signal V _Biasing The UTC PD 42 may be controlled to convert the optical local oscillator signal to an antenna current on the radiating element arm 36 while preserving the modulation, and thus the wireless data, on the modulated local oscillator signal LO2' (e.g., by applying a square function to the signal). The THF signal 32 will thus carry the modulated wireless data for reception and demodulation by external wireless communication equipment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating (for example, when the control signal V is applied) _Biasing After changing from the transmit state to the receive state of fig. 2) a graph of how the antenna 30 may receive the THF signal 34. As shown in fig. 3, the THF signal 34 may be incident on the antenna radiating element arm 36. The incident THF signal 34 may create a perimeter around the radiating element arm 36The antenna current flowing. The UTC PD 42 may use the optical local oscillator signal LO1 (plus the optical phase shift S when applied), the optical local oscillator signal LO2 (e.g., without modulation), and the control signal V _Biasing (e.g., a bias voltage asserted at a second level) converts the received THF signal 34 to an intermediate frequency signal SIGIF output onto the intermediate frequency signal path 44.

The frequency of the intermediate frequency signal SIGIF may be equal to the frequency of the THF signal 34 minus the difference between the frequency of the optical local oscillator signal LO1 and the frequency of the optical local oscillator signal LO2. For example, the intermediate frequency signal SIGIF may be at a lower frequency than the THF signals 32 and 34, such as centimeter or millimeter wave frequencies between 10GHz and 100GHz, between 30GHz and 80GHz, about 60GHz, or the like. Transceiver circuitry 26 (fig. 1) may change the frequency of optical local oscillator signal LO1 and/or optical local oscillator signal LO2 when switching from transmit to receive or vice versa, if desired. The UTC PD 42 may store the data modulation of the THF signal 34 in the intermediate signal SIGIF. The receiver in the transceiver circuit 26 (fig. 1) may demodulate the intermediate frequency signal SIGIF (e.g., after further down conversion) to recover the wireless data from the THF signal 34. As another example, the radio circuit 24 may convert the intermediate frequency signal SIGIF to the optical domain before recovering the radio data. As another example, the intermediate frequency signal path 44 may be omitted and the UTC PD 42 may convert the THF signal 34 into the optical domain for subsequent demodulation and data recovery (e.g., in a sideband of the optical signal).

The antenna 30 of fig. 2 and 3 may support transmission of the THF signal 32 and reception of the THF signal 34 with a given polarization (e.g., a linear polarization such as a vertical polarization). The radio circuit 24 (fig. 1) may include multiple antennas 30 for covering different polarizations, if desired. Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating one example of how the radio circuitry 24 may include multiple antennas 30 for covering different polarizations.

As shown in fig. 4, the wireless circuitry may include a first antenna 30, such as an antenna 30V for covering a first polarization (e.g., a first linear polarization such as vertical polarization), and may include a second antenna 30, such as an antenna 30H for covering a second polarization (e.g., a second linear polarization such as horizontal polarization) that is different from or orthogonal to the first polarization. The antenna 30V may have a UTC PD 42, such as UTC PD 42V coupled between a corresponding pair of radiating element arms 36. The antenna 30H may have a UTC PD 42, such as UTC PD 42H coupled between a corresponding pair of radiating element arms 36 oriented non-parallel (e.g., orthogonal) to the radiating element arms 36 in the antenna 30V. This may allow

antennas

30V and 30H to transmit THF signals 32 with respective (orthogonal) polarizations, and may allow

antennas

30V and 30H to receive THF signals 32 with respective (orthogonal) polarizations.

To minimize space within the device 10, the antenna 30V may be stacked vertically above or below the antenna 30H (e.g., with the UTC PD 42V partially or fully overlapping the UTC PD 42H). In this example, both

antennas

30V and 30H may be formed on the same substrate, such as a rigid or flexible printed circuit board. The substrate may include multiple stacked dielectric layers (e.g., layers of ceramic, epoxy, flexible printed circuit board material, rigid printed circuit board material, etc.). Radiating element arm 36 in antenna 30V may be formed on a separate substrate layer from radiating element arm 36 in antenna 30H, or radiating element arm 36 in antenna 30V may be formed on the same substrate layer as radiating element arm 36 in antenna 30H. UTC PD 42V may be formed on the same substrate layer as UTC PD 42H, or UTC PD 42V may be formed on a separate substrate layer from UTC PD 42H. The UTC PD 42V may be formed on the same substrate layer as the radiating element arm 36 in the antenna 30V, or may be formed on a separate substrate layer from the radiating element arm 36 in the antenna 30V. The UTC PD 42H may be formed on the same substrate layer as the radiating element arm 36 in the antenna 30H, or may be formed on a separate substrate layer from the radiating element arm 36 in the antenna 30H.

The antenna 30 or the

antennas

30H and 30V of fig. 4 may be integrated within a phased antenna array if desired. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing one example of how

antennas

30H and 30V may be integrated within a phased antenna array. As shown in fig. 5, the device 10 may include a phased antenna array 46 of stacked

antennas

30H and 30V arranged in a rectangular grid of rows and columns. Each of these antennas in the phased antenna array 46 may be formed on the same substrate. This is merely illustrative. In general, phased antenna array 46 (sometimes referred to as a phased array antenna) may include any desired number of

antennas

30V and 30H (or unstacked antennas 30) arranged in any desired pattern. Each of the antennas in the phased antenna array 46 may be provided with a respective optical phase shift S (fig. 2 and 3) that configures the antennas to collectively transmit and/or receive THF signals 32 and 34 that add to form a signal beam of the THF signals in a desired beam pointing direction. The beam pointing direction may be selected for pointing the signal beam towards external communication equipment, towards a desired external object, away from an external object, and the like.

Phased antenna array 46 may occupy relatively little space within device 10. For example, each antenna 30V/30H may have a length 48 (e.g., as measured from an end of one radiating element arm to an opposite end of an opposing radiating element arm). The length 48 may be approximately equal to one-half the wavelength of the THF signals 32 and 34. For example, the length 48 may be as small as 0.5mm or less. Each UTC-PD 42 in phased antenna array 46 may occupy a lateral area of 100 square microns or less. This may allow the phased antenna array 46 to occupy a very small area within the device 10, allowing the phased antenna array to be integrated within different portions of the device 10 while still allowing other space for device components. The examples of fig. 2-5 are merely illustrative, and in general, each antenna may have any desired antenna radiating element architecture.

Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram showing how a given antenna 30 and signal path 28 (fig. 1) may be used to transmit THF signals 32 and receive THF signals 34 based on optical local oscillator signals. In the example of fig. 6, the UTC PD 42 converts the received THF signals 34 to intermediate frequency signals SIGIF, which are then converted to the optical domain for recovering wireless data from the received THF signals.

As shown in fig. 6, the wireless circuitry 24 may include transceiver circuitry 26 coupled to an antenna 30 by a signal path 28 (e.g., an optical signal path sometimes referred to herein as an optical signal path 28). The UTC PD 42 may be coupled between the radiating element arm 36 of the antenna 30 and the signal path 28. Transceiver circuit 26 may include optical components 68, amplifier circuits such as power amplifier 76, and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 74. The optical components 68 may include an optical receiver, such as optical receiver 72, and an optical Local Oscillator (LO) optical source (emitter) 70. The LO light source 70 may include two or more light sources, such as laser light sources, laser diodes, optical phase-locked loops, or other optical emitters that emit light at respective wavelengths (e.g., optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO 2). The LO light source 70 may comprise a single light source, if desired, and may include optical components for splitting the light emitted by the light source into different wavelengths. Signal path 28 may be coupled to optical component 68 by optical path 66. The optical pathway 66 may include one or more optical fibers and/or waveguides.

Signal path 28 may include an optical splitter such as Optical Splitter (OS) 54, optical paths such as optical path 64 and optical path 62, optical combiners such as Optical Combiner (OC) 52, and optical path 40. The optical path 62 may be an optical fiber or a waveguide. The optical path 64 may be an optical fiber or a waveguide. The optical splitter 54 may have a first (e.g., input) port coupled to the optical path 66, a second (e.g., output) port coupled to the optical path 62, and a third (e.g., output) port coupled to the optical path 64. The optical path 64 may couple the optical splitter 54 to a first (e.g., input) port of the optical combiner 52. Optical path 62 may couple optical splitter 54 to a second (e.g., input) port of optical combiner 52. Optical combiner 52 may have a third (e.g., output) port coupled to optical path 40.

An optical phase shifter, such as optical phase shifter 80, may be interposed (optically) on or along optical path 64. An optical modulator, such as optical modulator 56, may be interposed (optically) on or along optical path 62. The optical modulator 56 may be, for example, a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM), and thus may sometimes be referred to as MZM 56.MZM 56 includes a first optical arm (branch) 60 and a second optical arm (branch) 58 interposed in parallel along an optical path 62. Propagating the optical local oscillator signal LO2 along

arms

60 and 58 of MZM 56 may allow for a different optical phase shift to be imparted to each arm before recombining the signals at the output of the MZM in the presence of a voltage signal applied to one or both arms (e.g., where the optical phase modulation produced on these arms is atConverted to intensity modulation at the output of MZM 56). When the voltage applied to the MZM 56 comprises wireless data, the MZM 56 may modulate the wireless data onto an optical local oscillator signal LO2. The phase shift performed at the MZM 56 may be used to perform beam forming/steering in addition to or in place of the optical phase shifter 80, if desired. MZM 56 may receive one or more bias voltages W applied to one or both of arms 58 and 60 _Biasing (sometimes referred to herein as bias signal W) _Biasing ). The control circuit 14 (FIG. 1) may provide bias voltages W having different magnitudes _Biasing To place MZM 56 in different operating modes (e.g., an operating mode that suppresses the optical carrier signal, an operating mode that does not suppress the optical carrier signal, etc.).

The intermediate frequency signal path 44 may couple the UTC PD 42 to the MZM 56 (e.g., arm 60). An amplifier, such as a low noise amplifier 82, may be interposed in the intermediate frequency signal path 44. Intermediate frequency signal path 44 may be used to pass intermediate frequency signal SIGIF from UTC PD 42 to MZM 56.DAC 74 may have inputs coupled to up-conversion circuitry, modulator circuitry, and/or baseband circuitry in a transmitter of transceiver circuitry 26. DAC 74 may receive digital data for transmission through antenna 30 and may convert the digital data to the analog domain (e.g., as data DAT). DAC 74 may have an output coupled to transmit data path 78. The transmit data path 78 may couple the DAC 74 to the MZM 56 (e.g., arm 60). Each of the components along the signal path 28 may allow the same antenna 30 to transmit the THF signal 32 and receive the THF signal 34 (e.g., using the same components along the signal path 28), thereby minimizing space and resource consumption within the apparatus 10.

The LO light source 70 may generate (emit) optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 (e.g., at different wavelengths separated by the wavelength of the THF signal 32/34). The optical components 68 may include lenses, waveguides, optical couplers, optical fibers, and/or other optical components that direct the emitted optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 toward the optical splitter 54 via the optical path 66. The optical splitter 54 may split the optical signal (e.g., by wavelength) on the optical path 66 to output an optical local oscillator signal LO1 onto the optical path 64, while outputting an optical local oscillator signal LO2 onto the optical path 62.

Control circuit 14 (fig. 1) may provide phase control signal CTRL to optical phase shifter 80. The phase control signal CTRL may control the optical phase shifter 80 to apply an optical phase shift S to the optical local oscillator signal LO1 on the optical path 64. The phase shift S may be selected to steer the signal beam of the THF signal 32/34 in a desired pointing direction. The optical phase shifter 80 may pass the phase-shifted optical local oscillator signal LO1 (referred to as LO1+ S) to the optical combiner 52. Signal beam steering is performed in the optical domain (e.g., using optical phase shifters 80) rather than in the THF domain because there are no satisfactory phase shifting circuit components that operate at as high a frequency as the THF signals 32 and 34. Optical combiner 52 may receive optical local oscillator signal LO2 via optical path 62. Optical combiner 52 may combine optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 onto optical path 40, which directs these optical local oscillator signals onto UTC PD 42 for use during signal transmission or reception.

During transmission of the THF signal 32, the DAC 74 may receive digital wireless data (e.g., data packets, frames, symbols, etc.) for transmission over the THF signal 32. DAC 74 may convert the digital wireless data into the analog domain and may output (transmit) the data as data DAT onto a transmit data path 78 (e.g., for transmission via antenna 30). The power amplifier 76 may amplify the data DAT. The transmit data path 78 may communicate data DAT to the MZM 56 (e.g., arm 60). MZM 56 may modulate data DAT onto optical local oscillator signal LO2 to generate a modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2' (e.g., an optical local oscillator signal at the frequency/wavelength of optical local oscillator signal LO2 but modulated to include data identified by data DAT). Optical combiner 52 may combine optical local oscillator signal LO1 with modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2' at optical path 40.

The optical path 40 may illuminate the UTC PD 42 with (using) an optical local oscillator signal LO1 (e.g., and a phase shift S applied by the optical phase shifter 80) and a modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2'. The control circuit 14 (FIG. 1) mayApplying a control signal V to UTC PD 42 _Biasing The control signal configures the antenna 30 for transmission of the THF signal 32. The UTC PD 42 may convert the optical local oscillator signal LO1 and the modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2' to an antenna current on the radiating element arm 36 at the frequency of the THF signal 32 (e.g., when programmed to use the control signal V _Biasing When transmitting). The antenna current on the radiating element arm 36 may radiate the THF signal 32. The frequency of the THF signal 32 is given by the frequency difference between the optical local oscillator signal LO1 and the modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2'. Control signal V _Biasing The UTC PD 42 may be controlled to preserve the modulation from the modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2' in the radiated THF signal 32. The external equipment receiving the THF signal 32 will thus be able to extract data DAT from the THF signal 32 transmitted by the antenna 30.

During the reception of the THF signal 34, the MZM 56 does not modulate any data onto the optical local oscillator signal LO2. The optical path 40 thus illuminates the UTC PD 42 with an optical local oscillator signal LO1 (e.g., and phase shift S) and an optical local oscillator signal LO2. Control circuit 14 (fig. 1) may apply a control signal V to UTC PD 42 _Biasing (e.g., a bias voltage) that configures the antenna 30 to receive the THF signal 32. The UTC PD 42 may use the optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 to convert the received THF signal 34 to an intermediate frequency signal SIGIF output onto the intermediate frequency signal path 44 (e.g., after being programmed to use the bias voltage V) _Biasing When receiving). The intermediate frequency signal SIGIF may comprise modulated data from the received THF signal 34. The low noise amplifier 82 may amplify the intermediate frequency signals SIGIF, which are then provided to the MZM 56 (e.g., arm 60). MZM 56 may convert intermediate frequency signal SIGIF to the optical domain as optical signal LOrx (e.g., by modulating data in intermediate frequency signal SIGIF onto one of the optical local oscillator signals) and may pass the optical signals to optical receiver 72 in optical component 68, as indicated by arrow 63 (e.g., via

optical paths

62 and 66 or other optical paths). The control circuit 14 (FIG. 1) may convert the optical signal LOrx into an optical signal LOrx using the optical receiver 72Other formats and recovers (demodulates) the data carried by the THF signal 34 from the optical signal. In this manner, the same antenna 30 and signal path 28 may be used to transmit and receive THF signals while also performing beam steering operations.

The example of fig. 6 in which the intermediate frequency signal SIGIF is converted into the optical domain is merely illustrative. The transceiver circuit 26 can receive and demodulate the intermediate frequency signals SIGIF, if desired, without first passing these signals to the optical domain. For example, the transceiver circuit 26 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), the intermediate frequency signal path 44 may be coupled to an input of the ADC instead of to the MZM 56, and the ADC may convert the intermediate frequency signal SIGIF to the digital domain. As another example, intermediate frequency signal path 44 may be omitted, and control signal V _Biasing The UTC PD 42 may be controlled to sample the THF signal 34 directly to the optical domain along with the optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2. For example, the UTC PD 42 may use the received THF signal 34 and the control signal V _Biasing An optical signal is generated on optical path 40. The optical signal may have an optical carrier with sidebands that are separated from the optical carrier by a fixed frequency offset (e.g., 30GHz-100GHz, 60GHz, 50GHz-70GHz, 10GHz-100GHz, etc.). The sidebands may be used to carry modulated data from the received THF signal 34. The signal path 28 may direct (propagate) the optical signal generated by the UTC PD 42 to an optical receiver 72 in the optical component 68 (e.g., via the

optical paths

40, 64, 62, 66, 63 and/or other optical paths). The control circuit 14 (fig. 1) may convert the optical signal to other formats using the optical receiver 72 and recover (demodulate) the data carried by the THF signal 34 from the optical signal (e.g., from a sideband of the optical signal).

Fig. 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating one example of how multiple antennas 30 may be integrated into a phased antenna array 88 that transmits THF signals through corresponding signal beams. In the example of fig. 7, MZM 56, intermediate frequency signal path 44, data path 78, and optical receiver 72 of fig. 6 have been omitted for clarity. Each of these antennas in phased antenna array 88 may alternatively sample the received THF signal directly into the optical domain, or may pass the intermediate frequency signal SIGIF to an ADC in transceiver circuitry 26.

As shown in FIG. 7, the phased antenna array 88 includes N antennas 30, such as a first antenna 30-0, a second antenna 30-1, and an Nth antenna 30- (N-1). Each of the antennas 30 in the phased antenna array 88 may be coupled to the optical component 68 via a respective optical signal path (e.g., the optical signal path 28 of fig. 6). Each of the N signal paths may include a respective optical combiner 52, the respective optical combiner 52 being coupled to the UTC PD 42 of the corresponding antenna 30 (e.g., the UTC PD 42 in antenna 30-0 may be coupled to optical combiner 52-0, the UTC PD 42 in antenna 30-1 may be coupled to optical combiner 52-1, the UTC PD 42 in antenna 30- (N-1) may be coupled to optical combiner 52- (N-1), etc.). Each of the N signal paths may also include a respective optical path 62 and a respective optical path 64 that are coupled to a corresponding optical combiner 52 (e.g., optical paths 64-0 and 62-0 may be coupled to optical combiner 52-0, optical paths 64-1 and 62-1 may be coupled to optical combiner 52-1, optical paths 64- (N-1) and 62- (N-1) may be coupled to optical combiner 52- (N-1), etc.).

The optical components 68 may include LO light sources 70, such as a first LO light source 70A and a second LO light source 70B. The optical signal paths for each of the antennas 30 in the phased antenna array 88 may share one or more optical splitters 54, such as a first optical splitter 54A and a second optical splitter 54B. LO light source 70A may generate (e.g., generate, emit, transmit, etc.) a first optical local oscillator signal LO1 and may provide the first optical local oscillator signal LO1 to optical splitter 54A via optical path 66A. The optical splitter 54A may distribute the first optical local oscillator signal LO1 to each of the UTC PDs 42 in the phased antenna array 88 via an optical path 64 (e.g., optical paths 64-0, 64-1, 64- (N-1), etc.). Similarly, the LO optical source 70B may generate (e.g., generate, emit, transmit, etc.) a second optical local oscillator signal LO2, and may provide the second optical local oscillator signal LO2 to the optical splitter 54B via the optical path 66B. The optical splitter 54B may distribute the second optical local oscillator signal LO2 to each of the UTC PDs 42 in the phased antenna array 88 via optical paths 62 (e.g., optical paths 62-0, 62-1, 62- (N-1), etc.).

A respective optical phase shifter 80 may be interposed along (on) each optical path 64 (e.g., a first optical phase shifter 80-0 may be interposed along optical path 64-0, a second optical phase shifter 80-1 may be interposed along optical path 64-1, an Nth optical phase shifter 80- (N-1) may be interposed along optical path 64- (N-1), etc.). Each optical phase shifter 80 may receive a control signal CTRL that controls the phase S provided by the optical phase shifter to optical local oscillator signal LO1 (e.g., a first optical phase shifter 80-0 may impart an optical phase shift of zero degrees/radians to optical local oscillator signal LO1 provided to antenna 30-0, a second optical phase shifter 80-1 may impart an optical phase shift of Δ Φ to optical local oscillator signal LO1 provided to antenna 30-1, and an nth optical phase shifter 80- (N-1) may impart an optical phase shift of (N-1) Δ Φ to optical local oscillator signal LO1 provided to antenna 30- (N-1). By adjusting the phase S imparted by each optical phase shifter of N optical phase shifters 80, control circuitry 14 (fig. 1) may control each antenna 30 in phased antenna array 88 to transmit THF signals 32 and/or THF signals 34 within formed signal beam 83. The THF signal beam 83 may be directed in a particular beam pointing direction (angle) 84 (e.g., the beam 83 may be directed in a direction towards an external object 84. The external phased beam steering circuitry may have a wavefront steering control beam 86 directed away from the external object 84 or external beam steering equipment 14.

The phased antenna array 88 may be capable of operating in an active mode in which the array transmits and/or receives THF signals using optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 (e.g., using phase-shifted steering signal beams 83 provided to each antenna element). The phased antenna array 88 may also be capable of operating in a passive mode, if desired, in which the array does not transmit or receive THF signals. Conversely, in the passive mode, the phased antenna array 88 may be configured to form a passive reflector that reflects the THF signal or other electromagnetic waves incident on the device 10. In the passive mode, UTC PD 42 in phased antenna array 88 is not illuminated by optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2, and transceiver circuitry 26 is not activeModulation/demodulation, mixing, filtering, detection, modulation, and/or amplification is performed on the incoming THF signal. When in the passive mode, the control signal V _Biasing Each antenna 30 may be operable to impart one or more selected phase shifts, carrier frequency shifts, and/or polarization changes in the reflection of incident electromagnetic waves. The phased antenna array 88 may sometimes be referred to as an Intelligent Reflective Surface (IRS) when placed in a passive mode and when controlled/programmed to apply one or more phase shifts, carrier frequency shifts, and/or polarization changes to a reflected electromagnetic wave. For example, the carrier frequency shift may be from a given carrier frequency f _c To 2*f _c Or other frequencies, or vice versa. The polarization change may change from vertically linear polarization to horizontally linear polarization, from horizontally linear polarization to vertically linear polarization, to or from an Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) configuration, and the like. Any desired combination of polarization changes, frequency changes, and phase changes may be used.

Fig. 8 is a diagram of a given antenna 30 of the phased antenna array 88 that may be configured to reflect electromagnetic waves when the phased antenna array 88 is placed in a passive mode. As shown in fig. 8, in the passive mode, the UTC PD 42 is not supplied with an optical local oscillator signal. Control signal V _Biasing A bias voltage and/or other control signals to configure the UTC PD 42 to exhibit a selected output impedance may be included. The selected output impedance may be mismatched (e.g., at the frequency of the THF signal 34) relative to the input impedance of the antenna radiating element arm 36. Such impedance mismatch may cause the antenna 30 to reflect (scatter) the incident THF signal 34 as a reflected THF signal 34R (sometimes referred to herein simply as the reflected signal 34R).

The selected impedance mismatch may also configure the antenna 30 to impart a selected phase shift and/or carrier frequency shift to the reflected signal 34R relative to the incident THF signal 34 (e.g., where the reflected signal 34R is phase shifted by the selected phase shift relative to the THF signal 34, frequency shifted by the selected carrier frequency shift relative to the THF signal 34, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the system may be adapted to configure the antenna 30 to impart a polarization change to the reflected signal 34R relative to the incident THF signal 34. Control signal V _Biasing The output impedance of the UTC PD 42 may be changed, adjusted or altered over time to change the output of the UTC PD 42The amount of mismatch between the impedance and the input impedance of the antenna radiating element arm 36 in order to impart a different phase shift and/or carrier frequency shift to the reflected signal 34R. In other words, the control circuit 14 may program the phase, frequency, and/or polarization characteristics of the reflected signal 34R (e.g., using the control signal V applied to the UTC PD 42) _Biasing )。

The same impedance mismatch may be applied to all antennas 30 in the phased antenna array 88 at any given time, or different impedance mismatches may be applied for different antennas 30 in the phased antenna array 88. Applying different impedance mismatches across phased antenna array 88 may, for example, allow control circuitry 14 to perform space-time encoding of reflected signal 34R (e.g., where the spatial response and/or the temporal response of reflected signal 34R is encoded to convey information to external equipment receiving reflected signal 34R) and/or form a signal beam of reflected signal 34R that is directed in one or more desired beam pointing directions. When the phased antenna array 88 is operating in the active mode, the control circuit 14 may control the LO light source 70 to illuminate the UTC PDs 42 in the phased antenna array 88 with optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2, and control signal V _Biasing May be adjusted to configure the UTC PD 42 to cause the antenna radiating element arm 36 to radiate a THF signal 32 or receive a THF signal 34 (e.g., as shown in fig. 2 and 3).

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of a given UTC PD 42 in a phased antenna array 88. As shown in fig. 9, UTC PD 42 may include a plurality of stacked layers (e.g., in a semiconductor substrate). The stacked layers of UTC PD 42 may include an n-type contact layer 104 and a p-type contact layer 90 (e.g., on opposite sides of the stack). For example, the n-type contact layer 104 may comprise n-type doped indium phosphide (InP). A waveguide layer, such as waveguide 102, may be stacked (layered) on the n-type contact layer 104. A depletion layer, such as depletion layer 100, may be stacked on waveguide 102. For example, the depletion layer 100 may comprise n-type doped InP. One or more spacers, such as

spacers

96 and 98, may be stacked on the depletion layer 100. An absorbent layer, such as absorbent layer 94, may be stacked upon the barrier layer 96. For example, the absorption layer 94 may comprise p-type doped indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs). A ridge layer, such as ridge layer 92, may be stacked on the absorbent layer 94. For example, the ridge layer 92 may comprise p-type doped InP. The P-type contact layer 90 may beStacked on the ridge layer 92. For example, the P-type contact layer 90 may comprise InGaAs. The control signal V may be applied to (across) the p-type contact layer 90 and the n-type contact layer 104 _Biasing To control the operation of UTC PD 42. Control signal V _Biasing The output impedance of the UTC PD 42 may be adjusted and/or the UTC PD 42 may be configured to transmit the THF signal 32 and/or receive the THF signal 34.

The example of fig. 9 is merely illustrative. The antenna 30 need not include a UTC PD, and the UTC PD 42 may be replaced by a PIN diode (e.g., a PIN photodiode) or any other desired programmable diode structure, if desired. The layers of the UTC PD 42 may be stacked in other orders (e.g., the waveguide 102 may be interposed between other layers, etc.). Additional layers may be included in the stack. For example, a layer of graphene, such as graphene layer 105, may be layered onto waveguide 102 or may be otherwise layered underneath antenna radiating element arm 36 (fig. 8). The graphene sublayers 105 may, for example, be used to extend the frequency range of the antenna 30 for transmitting/receiving THF signals and/or for passively reflecting the THF signals 34 as reflected signals 34R.

Fig. 10 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the UTC PD 42. As shown in fig. 10, UTC PD 42 may include an impedance matching section (region) 106 coupled between

lines

110 and 112. For example, the impedance matching section 106 may be formed from layers 94-100 of FIG. 9. Line 110 may couple terminal 111 to a first terminal of current source 108. Line 112 may couple terminal 113 to a second terminal of current source 108. Antenna radiating element arm 36 (fig. 8) may be coupled between

terminals

111 and 113.

A first resistor R ₁ May be interposed on the line 110 between the impedance matching section 106 and the terminal 111. Parasitic inductance L _P Can be inserted in series at resistor R ₁ And terminal 111 on line 110. Parasitic capacitance C _P Can be coupled to the resistor R ₁ And parasitic inductance L _P Between the node on line 110 and a node on line 112 between the impedance matching section 106 and terminal 113.

The impedance matching section 106 may include a resistor R coupled in series between

lines

110 and 112 ₂ 、R ₃ And R ₄ . The impedance matching section 106 may include a series coupling between lines 110 and 112 (andand a resistor R ₂ 、R ₃ And R ₄ In parallel) capacitance C ₁ 、C ₂ And C ₃ . The path 114 in the impedance matching section 106 may couple the resistance R ₂ And R ₃ Is coupled to the capacitance C ₁ And C ₂ A node in between. The path 116 in the impedance matching section 106 may couple the resistance R ₃ And R ₄ Is coupled to the capacitance C ₂ And C ₃ A node in between. The impedance matching section 106 may also be simplified to a single capacitance coupled between the

lines

110 and 112 or a single capacitance and a single resistance (e.g., resistance across the depletion layer 100) coupled in parallel between the

lines

110 and 112.

The current source 108 may generate a photocurrent I between

lines

110 and 112 in response to illumination from the optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 _PH . Photocurrent I _PH May flow along the antenna radiating element arm (e.g., between terminals 111 and 113) to radiate the THF signal 32. The impedance matching section 106 may be configured to exhibit the output impedance Z of the UTC PD 42. Control signal V _Biasing (e.g., one or more bias voltages and/or other control signals) may be applied to the P-type contact layer 90 and the N-type contact layer 104 (fig. 9) to change the resistance R ₂ 、R ₃ And/or R ₄ And/or change the capacitance C ₁ 、C ₂ And/or C ₃ And thus used to adjust the output impedance Z of the UTC PD 42.

For example, the control signal V is when the antenna is transmitting or receiving a THF signal in the active mode _Biasing The impedance matching section 106 may be configured to match the output impedance Z to the input impedance of the antenna radiating element arm coupled across

terminals

111 and 113. However, when the antenna is in the passive mode, the control signal V _Biasing The impedance matching section 106 can be configured to exhibit an output impedance Z that differs (mismatches) from the input impedance of the antenna radiating element arm by a selected amount. When reflecting the incident THF signal 34 as a reflected signal 34R, the amount of mismatching may be selected to impart a selected phase shift and/or carrier frequency shift (e.g., by the antenna 30 itself or in conjunction with other antennas 30 in a phased antenna array). Control signalV _Biasing The output impedance Z may be adjusted to adjust over time the (selected) amount of mismatch between the output impedance Z and the input impedance of the antenna radiating element arm (e.g., to adjust the phase shift and/or carrier frequency shift imparted by the antenna 30 itself or in conjunction with other antennas 30 when reflecting the incident THF signal 34 as a reflected signal 34R).

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing how one or more antennas 30 on the apparatus 10 (e.g., phased antenna array 88) may reflect an incident THF signal. As shown in FIG. 11, a communication network or system 96 may include device 10 and external communication equipment such as external equipment 114. External equipment 114 may be another device such as device 10, a wireless base station, a wireless access point, a peripheral device, an accessory device, a user input device, etc.

As shown in fig. 11, the external equipment 114 may transmit the THF signal 34. The THF signal 34 may be at an angle of incidence θ _i Incident on the device 10. When configured in the passive mode, one or more of the antennas 30 in the phased antenna array 88 may transmit the THF signal 34 at an angle of incidence θ _i Reflected as a reflected signal 34R. Control signal V _Biasing The variable cross-phased antenna array 88 is varied (e.g., thereby varying the imparted phase shift) to configure the array 88 to configure the THF signal 34 from the angle of incidence θ _i Are collectively reflected to a corresponding output (scattering) angle theta _R Upper (e.g. as at output angle θ) _R A reflected signal beam having a beam pointing direction in the direction of (a).

Control signal V _Biasing Can adjust the output angle theta _R Configured at any desired angle. For example, the output angle θ _R May be oriented toward external equipment 114 so that external equipment 114 receives reflected signal 34R. This may allow external equipment 114 to locate the position of device 10 (e.g., where external equipment 114 does not have a priori knowledge of the position of device 10) and/or receive information encoded in the reflected signal from device 10. Where external equipment 114 locates the location of device 10 based on receiving reflected signal 34R, external equipment 114 may use the known location of device 10 to perform further wireless communication with device 10 using the THF signal (e.g., by directing a signal beam of THF signal 34 toward the known location of device 10 to locate the position of device 10)For subsequent communications).

If desired, the control circuitry 14 (fig. 1) may further adjust the phase and/or frequency shift imparted by one or more of the antennas in the phased antenna array 88 as a function of space and/or as a function of time to perform space-time encoding of information to be received by the external equipment 114 within the reflected signal 34R. Such space-time encoding may involve control signals V provided to each of the antennas 30 in the phased antenna array 88 _Biasing These control signals configure each antenna 30 to produce a reflected signal 34R at each antenna 30 in the array at different times with a corresponding phase shift (e.g., with a range from-180 degrees to 180 degrees or some subset thereof), amplitude, and/or frequency shift by reflecting/scattering the incident THF signal 34. The control circuit 14 may, for example, switch the UTC PD control signal V at a sufficiently high rate, such as at a rate that matches or exceeds the sample rate and/or that matches or exceeds the symbol rate of the external equipment 114 _Biasing . In general, reflected signal 34R may encode, in time and space, any desired information for receipt and decoding by external equipment 114 and/or any other desired external communication equipment. The information may include, for example, information identifying a portion or subset of the reflected THF signal 34 of the device 10, a device identifier identifying the device 10 and/or a user of the device 10, application data, messages, control data, configuration data, and the like.

If desired, the control circuit 14 may control the output angle θ _R To point in other directions as indicated by arrow 118. The arrow 118 may be oriented toward other external communication equipment, if desired. Other external communication equipment may identify the location of device 10 based on receiving reflected signal 34R and/or may identify any other information transmitted via the reflected signal (e.g., using space-time encoding). If desired, control circuit 14 may operate at a plurality of different output angles θ as a function of time _R The internally scanned reflected signal 34R, as indicated by arrow 116. This may, for example, help the device 10 find other external communication equipment for performing subsequent THF communications (e.g., identify the location of other external communication equipment for performing additional THF communications).

If desired, control circuitry 14 may diffuse reflected signal 34R as much as possible in any desired sequence (e.g., a random or pseudo-random sequence) across all available directions (e.g., as indicated by arrow 118) to reduce the radar cross-section of device 10. This may help preserve the privacy of the device 10, for example, by hiding the presence or precise location of the device 10 relative to the rest of the system 96. Control circuit 14 may adjust control signal V if desired _Biasing To maximize the electromagnetic energy from the THF signal 34 absorbed at the apparatus 10 rather than reflected as the reflected signal 34R. For example, such absorption may be used to thermally heat apparatus 10. Phased antenna array 88 may configure device 10 to form a cooperative device in a radar system, if desired. When acting as a cooperative device, the THF signal 34 is a spatial ranging signal such as a radar signal, and the control circuit 14 may use the reflected signal 34R to notify the transmitter of the THF signal 34 that the user is present at or adjacent to the device 10. This may, for example, help the transmitter of the THF signal 34 to become aware of potential hazards arising from the presence of the user (e.g., where the transmitter is implemented on an automobile vehicle or poses other potential hazards to pedestrians or users of the device 10).

Fig. 12 shows illustrative operating modes (states) of the device 10 and a state diagram 120 of one or more antennas 30 on the device 10, such as antennas 30 integrated into a phased antenna array, such as phased antenna array 88. Control circuit 14 (fig. 1) may be implemented by adjusting LO light source 70 and control signal V provided to antenna 30 _Biasing To adjust/transition the device 10 between the states of the state diagram 120.

In the transmit mode (state) 122, the control circuit 14 may provide (assert/supply) a control signal V having a first setting to the antenna 30 _Biasing . This may include, for example, providing a first bias voltage to the antenna 30. Control signal V _Biasing The impedance matching section 106 of the UTC PD 42 in the antenna 30 may be configured to exhibit an output impedance that matches the input impedance of the antenna radiating element arm 36 in the antenna. This can be used to maximize the efficiency of the power transfer and antenna transmission of the THF signal. At the same time, LO light source 70 may generate optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2.MZM 56 may convert wireless data DAT (fig. 6) modulates onto optical local oscillator signal LO2 to produce a modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2'. The UTC PD 42 in the antenna 30 may be illuminated with an optical local oscillator signal LO1 and a modulated optical local oscillator signal LO2'. The antenna 30 may radiate a corresponding THF signal 32 (fig. 6). If desired, the optical phase shifter 80 may apply a phase shift to the first optical local oscillator LO1 to cause the antenna to transmit the THF signal 32 within the signal beam 83 oriented (formed) in the selected beam pointing direction 84 (FIG. 7).

In the receive mode (state) 126, the control circuit 14 may provide (assert/supply) the control signal V having the second setting to the antenna 30 _Biasing . This may include, for example, providing a second bias voltage to the antenna 30. Control signal V _Biasing The impedance matching section 106 of the UTC PD 42 in the antenna 30 may be configured to exhibit an output impedance that matches the input impedance of the antenna radiating element arm 36 in the antenna. This can be used to maximize the efficiency of the power transmission and antenna reception of the THF signal. Meanwhile, the LO light source 70 may illuminate the UTC PD 42 in the antenna 30 using optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2. The antenna 30 may receive the THF signal 34 and may convert the THF signal to an intermediate frequency signal SIGIF (fig. 6) (e.g., for conversion to the optical domain by the MZM 56 or for delivery to an ADC) or may sample the THF signal directly into the optical domain. A receiver in transceiver circuitry 26 may demodulate the wireless data in the received signal and may pass the demodulated data up to a protocol stack for further processing.

In a passive mode, such as the reflective mode 124 (sometimes referred to herein as the passive mode 124, passive reflective (reflective) mode 124, passive reflector mode 124, passive reflective (reflective) mode 124, or reflective mode 124), the optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 do not illuminate the UTC PD 42 in the antenna 30 (e.g., the LO light source 70 may be disabled, inactive, or powered off, or optical switching or absorption may be used to prevent the optical local oscillator signals from illuminating the UTC PD 42). The antenna 30 may receive the incoming THF signal 34 when illuminating the UTC PD 42. Meanwhile, the control circuit 14 may provide (assert/supply) the control signal V having one or more settings other than the first setting and the second setting to the antenna 30 _Biasing . Control signal V _Biasing The impedance matching section 106 of the UTC PD 42 in the antenna 30 may be configured to exhibit one or more output impedances that do not match (i.e., mismatch) the input impedance of the antenna radiating element arm 36 in the antenna. This can be used to reflect the THF signal 34 incident on the antenna 30 as a reflected signal 34R.

Control circuit 14 may use control signal V if desired _Biasing Different amounts of impedance mismatch are provided for the incident THF signal 34 at different antennas 30 and/or at different times. This may be used to impart one or more phase shifts and/or carrier frequency shifts to the reflected signal 34R as a function of space and/or time. For example, different phase shifts may be produced in the reflected signal 34R at different antennas 30 to produce a selected output angle θ _R (fig. 11) to perform space-time encoding of information transmitted to external communications equipment (such as a transmitter of the THF signal 34) or other external equipment to scatter reflected signals in as many directions as possible to absorb as much of the incident THF signal 34 at the device 10 as possible in order to allow the device 10 to form a cooperating device for a radar system to inform the transmitter of the THF signal 34 and/or other external equipment of the location and/or identity of the device 10 (e.g., for use in performing subsequent communications), and so forth.

When device 10 has wireless data DAT to transmit, control circuitry 14 may place device 10 in transmit mode 122. For example, the control circuit 14 may place the device 10 in the receive mode 126 when the device 10 is scheduled to receive wireless data in the THF signal 34. When the THF signal is not actively transmitted or received, the control circuitry 14 may place the apparatus 10 in the reflective mode 124. The reflective mode 124 may be, for example, a default mode of the device 10. Device 10 may consume less power in reflection mode 124 than in transmission mode 122 or reception mode 126, while still being able to passively communicate information to external communications equipment via reflected signal 34R.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of how different antennas 30 may be located at different positions on the device 10. In the example of fig. 13, device 10 has a front face 127F (e.g., from the front of a display or display overlay of device 10), a rear face 127R (e.g., a rear housing wall opposite the front face), and a side face 127S (e.g., a peripheral housing structure extending from rear face 127R to front face 127F). This is merely illustrative, and in general, device 10 may have other form factors (e.g., a cylindrical form factor, a compound form factor, a laptop form factor, a desktop form factor, a wearable form factor such as a wristwatch form factor or a head-mounted device form factor, etc.).

As shown in fig. 13, one or more antennas may be located in one or more areas (locations) 128 on front face 127F, rear face 127R, and/or one or more side faces 127S. Antennas in different areas 128 may be integrated into one or more phased control antenna arrays 88 if desired, and/or a single phased antenna array 88 may be located in one or more of the areas 128. There may be zero, one, or more than one such region 128 on the front face 127F, the back face 127R, and the side face 127S.

If desired, the apparatus 10 may include one or more antennas 30 (e.g., one or more phased antenna arrays 88) that may be operable only in the transmit mode 122 and the reflect mode 124 of FIG. 12 (e.g., to transmit or reflect only THF signals), only in the receive mode 126 and the reflect mode 124 (e.g., to receive or reflect only THF signals), all three of the transmit mode 122, the receive mode 126, and the reflect mode 124 (e.g., to transmit, receive, or reflect THF signals at different times), and/or only in the reflect mode 124. The antenna 30, which is only operable in the reflective mode 124, may be a dedicated passive antenna in the device 10 and need not receive the optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2. If desired, a single array of antennas 30 may include different subsets of antennas that may operate in one, two, or all three of modes 122-126.

Fig. 14 is a top view that illustrates how a single array of antennas 30 may include different subsets of antennas that may operate in one, two, or all three of the modes 122-126. As shown in fig. 14, the device 10 may include an array 130 of antennas 30. The antennas 30 in the array 130 may be integrated into a single substrate (e.g., a printed circuit board or other substrate) or may be distributed across multiple substrates. The array 130 may be located within a single region 128, or may be distributed across multiple regions 128 (FIG. 13).

The array 130 may include different subsets of the antennas 30, such as

subsets

132 and 134.

Subsets

132 and 134 may be capable of operating in different numbers of modes 122-126. For example, one or more of the subsets 130 may be capable of operating only in the reflective mode 124 (e.g., the subset 130 may include the passive antenna 30) or may be capable of operating in all three of the reflective modes 122-126, while the first subset 134 is capable of operating only in the transmit mode 122 and the second subset 134 is capable of operating only in the receive mode, or the subset 134 may be capable of operating in both the transmit mode 122 and the receive mode 126, but not in the reflective mode 124, or the subset 134 may be capable of operating only in the transmit mode 124, or the subset 134 may be capable of operating only in the receive mode 126, etc. Any desired number of antennas 30 in the array 130 may form a portion or all of the corresponding phased antenna array 88, if desired.

The example of fig. 14 is merely illustrative. The array 130 may include any desired number of antennas 30. There may be any desired number of subsets 134 and any desired number of subsets 132.

Subsets

134 and 132 may each include any desired number of antennas 30. Each subset 134 may include the same number of antennas 30, or different subsets 134 may include different numbers of antennas 30. Each subset 132 may include the same number of antennas 30, or different subsets 132 may include different numbers of antennas 30. There may be more than two types of subsets in the array 130. In the example of fig. 14, within the array 130, the antennas 30 in the subset 132 are adjacent to each other, and the antennas 30 in the subset 134 are adjacent to each other. In general, the antennas 30 in each subset 132 and the antennas in each subset 134 may be distributed across the array 130 in any desired manner. The antennas 30 in the array 130 need not be arranged in a rectangular grid pattern of rows and columns and may generally be arranged in any desired pattern.

Additional material may be provided to the antenna 30 to help the antenna 30 focus the transmitted THF signal, the reflected THF signal, and/or the reflected THF signal, if desired. For example, a THz lens may be provided in the device 10 to help the antenna 30 focus the transmitted THF signal, the received THF signal, and/or the reflected THF signal. Fig. 15 is a cross-sectional side view showing one example of how the device 10 may include a THz lens to help the antenna 30 focus the transmitted THF signal, the received THF signal, and/or the reflected THF signal.

As shown in fig. 15, one or more antennas 30 (e.g., integrated within the array 130) may be disposed on or within the substrate 138. A THz lens, such as THz lens 142, may be mounted on or over substrate 138. The THz lens 142 may overlap at least some (e.g., all) of the antennas 30 on the substrate 138. The THz lens 142 can be used to focus the THz signal 34 onto the antenna 30, to focus the transmitted THF signal 32 in a particular direction (e.g., within the corresponding signal beam), and/or to focus the reflected signal 34R in a particular direction (e.g., within the corresponding signal beam). This example is merely illustrative. Multiple THz lenses can be used to focus THz signals for different antennas and/or multiple THz lenses can be used to focus THz signals for one or more antennas. The THz lens 142 may have any desired shape.

Fig. 16 is a flow diagram of exemplary operations that may be performed by the control circuit 14 (fig. 1) when operating the antenna 30 to transmit, receive, and/or passively reflect THF signals. At optional operation 144, control circuit 14 may use control signal V _Biasing The antenna 30 is placed in the reflective mode 124 (e.g., while also controlling the LO light source 70 to stop providing optical local oscillator signals LO1 and LO2 to the antenna). Operation 144 may be omitted in examples where antenna 30 may only operate in reflective mode 124 (e.g., the antenna is a passive antenna).

At operation 146 (in the reflection mode 124), the control circuit 14 may use the control signal V _Biasing The UTC PD 42 in the antenna 30 is controlled to produce one or more mismatches (e.g., a series of impedance mismatches over time) between the output impedance of the UTC PD and the input impedance of the antenna radiating element arm 36 in the antenna 30. This may configure the antenna 30 to reflect the incident THF signal 34 as a reflected signal 34R. The impedance mismatch can be selected if desiredAnd/or to impart one or more phase and/or frequency shifts in the reflected signal 34R relative to the incident THF signal 34.

Control circuit 14 may use control signal V if desired _Biasing The UTC PD is adjusted as a function of time and/or space (e.g., across the array of antennas 30) to perform space-time encoding in the reflected signal 34R (at operation 148). The control circuit 14 may encode the reflected signal 34R, for example, with a device identifier that identifies the device 10 and/or a user of the device 10 to external communication equipment, an identifier that identifies a portion of the device 10 in the event of a reflection of the THF signal 34, information (e.g., to form a cooperating device in a radar system) that informs the user of the external communication equipment device 10 of the presence of the device 10, and so forth.

If desired, the control circuit 14 may adjust the operation of one or more antennas 30 for transmitting and/or receiving THF signals based on the configuration and/or status information from the antennas 30 in the reflection mode 124 (at operation 150). The transmit and/or receive antennas may include one or more of the antennas in the same reflective mode 124 (e.g., to be later switched to be antennas for THF signal transmission and/or reception), or may be different antennas than the antennas in the reflective mode 124. For example, control circuit 14 may identify the angle of incidence θ based on the configuration or state of the antenna in reflection mode 124 that generated reflected signal 34R _i And/or output angle theta _R . The antenna 30 for subsequent transmission and/or reception may use the identified angle of incidence θ _i And/or output angle theta _R As a priori information of the location of the external communication equipment used to perform the THF communication. Control circuit 14 may then direct the signal beams generated by those antennas toward the identified angle of incidence θ _i And/or output angle theta _R Pointing. Conversely, the control circuit 14 may use information regarding the location of the external communication equipment in communication with the transmit and/or receive antenna 30 to adjust the phase produced by the antenna 30 in the reflective mode 124 to point toward a known location of the external communication equipment (e.g., to reflect subsequently transmitted THF signals 34 incident from the direction of the external communication equipment). This can be used to minimize the establishment of THF between the apparatus 10 and external equipmentThe time required for the communication link.

Control circuit 14 may use control signal V if desired _Biasing The UTC PD is adjusted as a function of time and/or space (e.g., across the array of antennas 30) to perform privacy preserving operations using the reflected signal 34R (at operation 152). The control circuit 14 may, for example, adjust the phase of the UTC PD 42 of the antenna 30 in the reflection mode to spread the output angle θ of the reflected signal 34R over as many angles as possible _R . This can be used, for example, to minimize the radar cross section of the apparatus 10 to THF signals. Additionally or alternatively, the UTC PD 42 may be configured to absorb as much of the incident THF signal 34 as possible (e.g., to heat the apparatus 10 using the THF signal 34).

Control circuit 14 may use control signal V if desired _Biasing Adjusting the UTC PD as a function of time and/or space (e.g., across an array of antennas 30) to form a reflected signal 34R at a selected output angle θ _R The directed signal beam (at operation 154). Output angle theta _R Can be selected for pointing towards the external communication equipment that transmits the THF signal 34 or towards other external communication equipment. This may allow the device 10 to communicate information in the reflected signal 34R to external communication equipment and/or may allow external communication equipment to locate the device 10 (e.g., for directing the THF signal toward the device 10 for subsequent THF communication).

Control circuit 14 may use control signal V if desired _Biasing Adjusting the UTC PD 42 as a function of time and/or space (e.g., across an array of antennas 30) to provide a plurality of different output angles θ _R The signal beam of the reflected signal 34R is internally scanned (at operation 156). This may, for example, allow the external communication equipment to receive the reflected signal 34R even if the device 10 does not have a priori knowledge of the location of the external communication equipment (e.g., allow the external communication equipment to direct the THF signal toward the device 10 and/or allow the device 10 to direct the THF signal toward the external communication equipment during a subsequent THF communication). Control circuit 14 may perform one or more (e.g., all) of operations 148-156. Control circuit 14 may perform two or more of operations 148-156 simultaneously, if desired.

At optional operation 158, control circuit 14 may use control signal V _Biasing The antenna 30 is placed in a transmit mode 122 and/or a receive mode 126 for performing THF communication with external communication equipment. Operation 158 may be omitted in examples where antenna 30 may only operate in reflective mode 124 (e.g., the antenna is a passive antenna). Control circuitry 14 may perform operation 146 for some of antennas 30 in device 10 while simultaneously performing operation 158 for other antennas 30 in device 10, if desired.

The examples of fig. 6-16 in which the antenna operable in the reflection mode 124 transmits a THF signal are merely illustrative. If desired, the apparatus 10 may include one or more antenna arrays that operate at lower frequencies and may operate in the reflective mode 124 (e.g., in addition to or instead of the antenna 30 that may operate in the reflective mode 124 for the THF signal). Fig. 17 is a circuit diagram showing how the device 10 may include an antenna 30 that may operate in the reflective mode 124 but at frequencies less than about 100 GHz.

As shown in fig. 17, the apparatus 10 may include one or more phased antenna arrays 172. Phased antenna array 172 may include M antennas 30 (e.g., antennas 30-0, 30- (M-1), etc.). The antenna 30 may be coupled to the phase and magnitude controller block 164 via an output amplifier stage 166. The output amplifier stage 166 may include an output amplifier 168 coupled to each antenna 30. The phase and magnitude controller block 164 may include a phase controller 176 and a magnitude controller 174 that adjust the phase and magnitude of the signal transmitted through the antenna 30 (respectively). The phase and magnitude controller block 164 may map M Radio Frequency (RF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) streams 162 (e.g., first MIMO stream 162-0, mth MIMO stream 162- (M-1), etc.) onto M antennas 30 in the phased antenna array 172. Each MIMO stream 162 may be mapped to each antenna 30 or may be mapped to only a subset of the antennas 30 by a phase and magnitude controller block 164.

The phased antenna array 172 of fig. 17 may transmit radio frequency signals at frequencies less than about 100 GHz. For example, the signals may include millimeter wave signals and/or centimeter wave signals, and/or may include signals below 10 GHz. The phased antenna array 172 may be capable of operating in the reflection mode 124. In the reflection mode, the control circuit 14 may provide a control signal CTRL' to the output amplifier stage 168. The control signal CTRL' may adjust the output impedance of the output amplifier 168 to form one or more impedance mismatches between the output impedance of the output amplifier 168 and the input impedance of the antenna 30. If desired, the control circuit 14 may adjust the output impedance of the output amplifier 168 using the control signal CTRL' to match the input impedance of the antenna 30 during transmission and reception of radio frequency signals. During reflection of the radio frequency signal (in the reflection mode), the impedance mismatch may cause the phased antenna array 172 to reflect the incident radio frequency signal 170 as a reflected radio frequency signal 170R (sometimes referred to herein as a reflected signal 170R). Control circuit 14 may control the output impedance of output amplifier 168 as a function of time and/or space to impart any desired phase and/or frequency shift in reflected signal 170R relative to incident signal 170.

Device 10 may collect and/or use personally identifiable information. It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be explicitly stated to the user. The optical components described herein (e.g., MZM modulators, waveguides, phase shifters, UTC PDs, etc.) can be implemented in plasmonic technology, if desired.

The methods and operations described above in connection with fig. 1-17 (e.g., the operations of fig. 12 and 16) may be performed by components of device 10 using software, firmware, and/or hardware (e.g., dedicated circuitry or hardware). The software code for performing these operations may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a tangible computer-readable storage medium) that is stored on one or more of the components of device 10 (e.g., storage circuitry 16 of fig. 1). The software code may sometimes be referred to as software, data, instructions, program instructions, or code. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include a drive, non-volatile memory such as non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), a removable flash drive or other removable media, other types of random access memory, and so forth. The software stored on the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be executed by processing circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry 18 of fig. 1, etc.) on one or more of the components of device 10. The processing circuitry may include a microprocessor, central Processing Unit (CPU), application specific integrated circuit with processing circuitry, or other processing circuitry.

According to one embodiment, there is provided an electronic device including: an antenna radiating element having an input impedance; a photodiode coupled to the antenna radiating element and having an output impedance, the photodiode configured to receive a control signal placing the photodiode in a selected one of a first mode in which the input impedance is mismatched relative to the output impedance at a frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz or a second mode in which the input impedance is matched to the output impedance at the frequency; and an optical signal path configured to illuminate the photodiode when the photodiode is in the second mode using a first optical Local Oscillator (LO) signal and a second optical LO signal offset in wavelength relative to the first optical LO signal, the antenna radiating element configured to reflect a wireless signal at the frequency when the photodiode is in the first mode.

According to another embodiment, the electronic device includes: an optical modulator interposed along the optical signal path and configured to modulate wireless data onto the second optical LO signal when the photodiode is in the second mode, the antenna radiating element configured to emit an additional wireless signal at a frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz when the photodiode is in the second mode.

According to another embodiment, the optical modulator comprises a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM).

According to another embodiment, the control signal includes a first bias voltage and a second bias voltage different from the first bias voltage, the photodiode is configured to receive the first bias voltage when in the second mode, and the photodiode is configured to receive an additional wireless signal at an additional frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz using the antenna radiating element when the photodiode receives the second bias voltage.

According to another embodiment, the antenna radiating element is configured to receive an additional wireless signal at an additional frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz when the photodiode is in the second mode.

According to another embodiment, the first and second optical LO signals do not illuminate the photodiode when the photodiode is in the first mode.

According to another embodiment, the photodiode comprises a single row of carrier photodiodes (UTC PDs).

According to another embodiment, the photodiode comprises a PIN photodiode.

According to another embodiment, the photodiode includes a graphene sublayer.

According to another embodiment, the electronic device includes: one or more processors; and a phased antenna array comprising the antenna radiating element and the photodiode, the one or more processors configured to control the phased antenna array to form a signal beam in the selected beam pointing direction of the wireless signals reflected by the antenna radiating element at the frequency when the photodiode is in the first mode.

According to another embodiment, the electronic device includes: one or more processors configured to perform space-time encoding of the wireless signals reflected by the antenna radiating element by varying an amount of mismatch between the input impedance and the output impedance over time using the control signal.

According to another embodiment, the electronic device includes: one or more processors configured to impart a selected phase shift, frequency shift, or polarization change to the wireless signals reflected by the antenna radiating element using the control signal.

According to another embodiment, the electronic device includes: a terahertz lens overlapping the antenna radiation element.

According to an embodiment, there is provided a method of operating an electronic device having an antenna array comprising antenna radiating elements and photodiodes coupled to the antenna radiating elements, the method comprising: generating, with the photodiodes, a current on the antenna radiating element that emits a first wireless signal at a frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz when the photodiode is illuminated with a first optical Local Oscillator (LO) signal and a second optical LO signal that is offset in wavelength relative to the first optical LO signal; and reflecting, with the antenna radiating elements, a second wireless signal at the frequency when the photodiodes are controlled to exhibit one or more output impedances that are mismatched relative to an input impedance of the antenna radiating elements at the frequency.

According to another embodiment, the method comprises: the output impedance of the photodiodes is varied across the array using one or more processors.

According to another embodiment, the method comprises: encoding, with one or more processors, information in the second wireless signals reflected by the antenna radiating elements by changing output impedances of the photodiodes.

According to another embodiment, the method comprises: changing, with one or more processors, output impedances of the photodiodes to form a signal beam of the second wireless signals reflected by the antenna radiating elements oriented in the selected beam pointing direction.

According to one embodiment, there is provided an electronic device including: a phased antenna array; and one or more processors configured to place the phased antenna array in a first mode in which the phased antenna array is configured to transmit a first wireless signal, a second mode in which the phased antenna array is configured to receive a second wireless signal, or a third mode in which the phased antenna array is configured to reflect a third wireless signal incident on the phased antenna array.

According to another embodiment, the first wireless signal, the second wireless signal, and the third wireless signal are at a frequency of less than 100 GHz.

According to another embodiment, the first wireless signal, the second wireless signal, and the third wireless signal are at a frequency greater than or equal to 100 GHz.

The foregoing is merely exemplary and various modifications may be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented independently or in any combination.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

an antenna radiating element having an input impedance;

a photodiode coupled to the antenna radiating element and having an output impedance, the photodiode configured to receive a control signal that places the photodiode in a selected one of a first mode in which the input impedance is mismatched relative to the output impedance at a frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz or a second mode in which the input impedance is matched to the output impedance at the frequency; and

an optical signal path configured to illuminate the photodiode when the photodiode is in the second mode using a first optical Local Oscillator (LO) signal and a second optical LO signal offset in wavelength relative to the first optical LO signal, the antenna radiating element configured to reflect a wireless signal at the frequency when the photodiode is in the first mode.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:

an optical modulator interposed along the optical signal path and configured to modulate wireless data onto the second optical LO signal when the photodiode is in the second mode, wherein the antenna radiating element is configured to emit an additional wireless signal at a frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz when the photodiode is in the second mode.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the optical modulator comprises a mach-zehnder modulator (MZM).

4. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the control signal includes a first bias voltage and a second bias voltage different from the first bias voltage, the photodiode is configured to receive the first bias voltage when in the second mode, and the photodiode is configured to receive additional wireless signals at additional frequencies greater than or equal to 100GHz using the antenna radiating element when the photodiode receives the second bias voltage.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the antenna radiating elements are configured to receive additional wireless signals at additional frequencies greater than or equal to 100GHz when the photodiodes are in the second mode.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first and second optical LO signals do not illuminate the photodiode when the photodiode is in the first mode.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the photodiode comprises a single row of carrier photodiodes (UTC PDs).

8. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the photodiode comprises a PIN photodiode.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the photodiode comprises a graphene sublayer.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more processors; and

a phased antenna array comprising the antenna radiating elements and the photodiodes, wherein the one or more processors are configured to control the phased antenna array to form a signal beam of the wireless signal reflected by the antenna radiating elements at the frequency in the selected beam pointing direction when the photodiodes are in the first mode.

11. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more processors configured to perform space-time encoding of the wireless signal reflected by the antenna radiating element by varying an amount of mismatch between the input impedance and the output impedance over time using the control signal.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more processors configured to impart a selected phase shift, frequency shift, or polarization change to the wireless signal reflected by the antenna radiating element using the control signal.

13. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising: a terahertz lens overlapping the antenna radiating element.

14. A method of operating an electronic device having an antenna array including antenna radiating elements and photodiodes coupled to the antenna radiating elements, the method comprising:

generating, with the photodiode, a current on the antenna radiating element that emits a first wireless signal at a frequency greater than or equal to 100GHz when the photodiode is illuminated with a first optical Local Oscillator (LO) signal and a second optical LO signal that is offset in wavelength relative to the first optical LO signal; and

reflecting, with the antenna radiating element, a second wireless signal at the frequency when the photodiode is controlled to exhibit one or more output impedances mismatched at the frequency relative to an input impedance of the antenna radiating element.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

varying, with one or more processors, an output impedance of the photodiode across the array.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

encoding, with one or more processors, information in the second wireless signal reflected by the antenna radiating element by changing an output impedance of the photodiode.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

changing, with one or more processors, an output impedance of the photodiode to form a signal beam of the second wireless signal reflected by the antenna radiating element oriented in the selected beam pointing direction.

18. An electronic device, comprising:

a phased antenna array, and

one or more processors configured to place the phased antenna array in a first mode in which the phased antenna array is configured to transmit a first wireless signal, a second mode in which the phased antenna array is configured to receive a second wireless signal, or a third mode in which the phased antenna array is configured to reflect a third wireless signal incident on the phased antenna array.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the first wireless signal, the second wireless signal, and the third wireless signal are at a frequency less than 100 GHz.

20. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the first wireless signal, the second wireless signal, and the third wireless signal are at a frequency greater than or equal to 100 GHz.